Patterning mask and method of formation of mask using step double patterning
A method of forming a mask for use in fabricating an integrated circuit includes forming first non-removable portions of a photoresist material through a mask having a plurality of apertures, shifting the mask, forming second non-removable second portions of the photoresist material overlapping the first portions, and removing removable portions of the photoresist material arranged between the first and second portions. The formed photoresist mask may be used to form vias in an integrated circuit. The pattern of vias produced have the capability to exceed the current imaging resolution of a single exposure treatment.
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Embodiments described herein relate generally to the fabrication of integrated circuit masks, and more specifically to means for providing vias to form electrical connections to various features, such as spaced conductive lines in integrated circuits.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONElectrically conductive lines and connections form many common components of integrated circuits. Dynamic random access memory (DRAM) circuitry, for example, incorporates multiple parallel conductive lines to form word-lines and bit-lines, which must be connected to various components. In order to increase capacity and accommodate smaller devices, there is constant pressure to increase the density of components on these and other circuits. The continual reduction in feature size places greater demands on the techniques used to form the features.
Photolithography is a commonly used technique for patterning integrated circuit features, such as conductive lines and vias that may be filled with a conductive material to form a connection. One example of a photolithographic method for patterning integrated circuit features includes depositing a photoresist material over a material to be patterned, covering portions of the photoresist material with a mask, exposing the uncovered photoresist material to light, and etching away either the exposed portion, in the case of a positive resist, or the unexposed portion of the photoresist material, in the case of a negative resist. The remaining photoresist material is used as an etch mask for an etching process. In the etching process, portions of the of the material to be etched that are not covered by the photoresist material are removed by, for example, wet or dry chemical etch. After the etch, the remaining photoresist material is dissolved.
There are, however, limitations on how close features can be patterned using known photolithographic techniques. The size of features on an integrated circuit are conventionally described by their “pitch,” which is the distance between an identical point on two neighboring features. Due to an inherent resolution limit, which is a function of a numerical aperture of the mask and the wavelength of the light used, there is a minimum pitch below which features cannot be reliably formed using conventional photolithographic techniques.
Thus, there exists a need for a method and apparatus to pattern closely spaced features having a smaller pitch than would be possible using a mask having a given resolution limit in a conventional photolithographic technique.
The term “substrate” in the following description refers to any supporting material suitable for fabricating an integrated circuit, typically a semiconductor material, but not necessarily so. A substrate may be silicon-based, may include epitaxial layers of silicon supported by a base semiconductor foundation, can be sapphire-based, silicon-on-insulator (SOI), metal, polymer, quartz, or any other materials suitable for supporting an integrated circuit or mask formation. When reference is made to a semiconductor substrate in the following description, previous process steps may have been utilized to form regions or junctions in or over a base semiconductor or foundation. The terms “removable” and “non-removable” as used herein relate to portions of a material that either will be removed or will not be removed, respectively, by a subsequent step, for example by treating the material with a solvent.
In various embodiments described herein, a mask having a geometric pattern is used to conduct a first exposure of a photoresist material. Next, the mask undergoes a small image shift and a second exposure of the photoresist is performed. The first and second exposures overlap to yield a grid of non-exposed areas, which may be removed using a negative develop technique. In various embodiments, the non-exposed areas may be etched into vias to be used as electrical contacts. The pattern of vias produced has the capability to exceed the current resolution of a prior art single exposure treatment. These embodiments are particularly well suited for application to processor and memory technology such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and other memory devices that contain closely spaced access lines, for example, access lines and data/source lines, bit-lines, and to other integrated circuit structures having closely spaced parallel conductive lines. It should be understood that the embodiments discussed herein are not limited by the examples described herein and that changes can be made thereto.
Example embodiments are now described with reference to the accompanying figures wherein like reference numbers are used consistently for like features throughout the drawings.
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The mask 210 includes a plurality of apertures 212 formed therein. In the embodiment shown in
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The above description and drawings are only to be considered illustrative of specific embodiments, which achieve the features and advantages described herein. Modifications and substitutions for specific conditions and materials can be made. Accordingly, the embodiments are not considered as being limited by the foregoing description and drawings, but is only limited by the scope of the appended claims.
Claims
1. A method of forming an integrated circuit structure, the method comprising:
- arranging a mask having a plurality of apertures over a first material;
- making first portions of the first material non-removable by exposure through the plurality of apertures;
- shifting the mask so that the plurality of apertures overlap a portion of the first portions of the first material; and
- making second portions of the first material non-removable by exposure through the plurality of apertures, wherein the first portions and the second portions overlap in such a way so as to produce removable portions of the first material arranged between the first portions and second portions; and
- removing the removable portions of the first material.
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising removing the removable portions to form a plurality of openings in the first material.
3. The method of claim 2, further comprising providing a second material below the first material and etching the second material through the openings in the first material to form a plurality of vias in second material.
4. The method of claim 3, further comprising forming electrical connections in the plurality of vias formed in the second material.
5. The method of claim 4, further comprising forming a conductive material over and in contact with at least one of the electrical connections.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the first material is a photoresist material.
7. The method of claim 6, wherein formation of the first portions of the first material comprises exposing the first portions of the first material to radiation and formation of the second portions of the second material comprises exposing the second portions of the second material to radiation.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of apertures are square shaped.
9. The method of claim 8, wherein the plurality of apertures are arranged at a forty-five degree angle to an edge of the mask.
10. The method of claim 8, wherein the plurality of apertures are arranged in a grid.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein the mask is shifted by a distance such that the center of the apertures are aligned at or approximately at locations centered between four first portions.
12. The method of claim 10, wherein the plurality of apertures are arranged such that a pitch of a point of a square shape measured diagonally across the square shape is at or about 1.41 times the pitch of a point of a square shape measured along an edge of the square shape.
13. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of apertures are in the shape of a first square overlapped by four smaller squares, wherein each of the smaller square overlaps one of the corners of the first square.
14. The method of claim 13, wherein the plurality of apertures are arranged in a grid.
15. The method of claim 14, wherein the mask is shifted by a distance such that the center of the apertures are aligned at or approximately at locations centered between four cured first portions.
16. The method of claim 14, wherein the plurality of apertures are arranged such that a pitch of a point of a smaller square measured diagonally across the aperture is at or about 1.41 times the pitch of a point of a smaller square measured along an edge of the aperture.
17. A method of forming electrical connections in an integrated circuit, the method comprising:
- providing a material to be patterned over a substrate;
- providing a photoresist material over the material to be patterned;
- providing a mask having a plurality of apertures over the photoresist material;
- exposing the photoresist material through the plurality of apertures during a first exposure to form non-removable first portions of the photoresist material;
- shifting the mask so that the plurality of apertures overlap a portion of the first portions of the photoresist material;
- exposing the photoresist material through the plurality of apertures during a second exposure to form non-removable second portions of the photoresist material;
- removing removable portions of the photoresist located between the overlapping first portions and second portions of the photoresist;
- etching the material to be patterned through areas previously occupied by the removable portions of the photoresist to form a plurality of openings.
18. The method of claim 17, wherein the openings are vias.
19. The method of claim 18, further comprising filling the vias with conductive material to form a plurality of electrical connections.
20. The method of claim 17, wherein the plurality of apertures comprise square shapes and are arranged in a grid.
21. The method of claim 20, wherein the plurality of apertures are arranged such that a pitch of a point of a square shape measured diagonally across the square shape is 1.41 times the pitch of a point of a square shape measured along an edge of the square shape.
22. The method of claim 20, wherein the plurality of apertures each comprise five overlapping square shapes.
23. A method of forming a mask, comprising:
- changing a physical property a first material by irradiating the first material a first time through a mask having a plurality of apertures;
- shifting the mask relative to the first material and irradiating the material a second time through the mask to change the physical property of the first material not changed by said first irradiating, and
- producing a mask from the first material by removing one of either portions of the first material having a changed physical property or portions of the first material which do not have a changed physical property.
24. The method of claim 23, further comprising removing portions of the first material which do not have a changed physical property.
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Type: Grant
Filed: Mar 2, 2010
Date of Patent: Apr 10, 2012
Patent Publication Number: 20110217843
Assignee: Micron Technology, Inc. (Boise, ID)
Inventors: Anton Devilliers (Boise, ID), Michael Hyatt (Boise, ID)
Primary Examiner: Alexander Ghyka
Assistant Examiner: Seahvosh Nikmanesh
Attorney: Dickstein Shapiro LLP
Application Number: 12/716,071
International Classification: H01L 21/44 (20060101);